1. MEGHANN FARNSWORTH AND KELLY CHEN
CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
@MeghannCIR
@Chenk_x
SOCIAL MEDIA and NEWS ENGAGEMENT: GO
BEYOND THE TWEET

2. First: Some Stats
Twitter:
 50 million: Average # of Tweets people send a day
 100 million+: Number of users
Tumblr:
 73.4 million: Number of blogs
 31.6 billion: Number of posts
Facebook:
 845 million: Monthly active users
 425 million: Mobile users
 20 minutes: Time spent per visit
Instagram:
 Over 50+ million users

3. 4 reasons
why your
newsroom
should
actively
use social
media
Reach new audiences
Engage your audience
Expand your brand
OWN your brand

4. 4 reasons
why your
reporters
and staff
should
use social
media
Distribute your content
Follow up on your story
Build your brand
Talk to people

5. KNOW YOUR
AUDIENCE

6. Use data to find new audiences to
engage on social media, in person
Engaged parents Super-engaged parents
What happens if we engage
these active parents?

10. DEVELOP A STRATEGY
• WHAT ARE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S GOALS?
• WHAT KIND OF AUDIENCE ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
• ENGAGE YOUR INFLUENCERS: DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP
• ONE PIECE OF CONTENT CAN HAVE MULTIPLE USES
• FIND NEWS WAYS TO TWEET THE SAME THING. FACTS, QUOTES, PHOTOS.
• USE TIMING TOOLS SO YOU DON’T WORK 24/7
•Facebook, Hootsuite, Tumblr all have timing tools so you can set up
optimal timing for publishing. Reminder: This means understanding
how your audience engages with your content and going towards them.

11. What am I supposed to Tweet about?
Think of Twitter as your own publishing platform.

12. @Stefmara

13. Tweet about what you're working on

15. Highlight data, numbers, weird stuff

16. WHAT MAKES A GOOD TWEET?

17. Use or create #hashtags
to build a community
#MuckReads
#CAWatch
#WJchat

18. Follow your content as it travels
• Reach
• Responses

19. FACEBOOK: MAKE YOUR STORIES
TRAVEL
Post photos: They travel well
Use stats: Break down a complicated
story
Call for action: People respond to
requests
Ask questions: And then follow up
Advertising: Spend a little money to get a
greater audience and better engagement.

21. ProPublica

22. MEASURE AND TRACK YOUR IMPACT
• Use Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, bit.ly or other 3rd
party platform to track your tweets,
get reports, and manage multiple brands.
• Invest in Viral Heat, Vocus, Topsy or other platform that gathers RTs for you.
• Favor tweets from your followers or influencers so that they remain saved.
• Don’t let your tweets go to waste: Use Storify to create new stories and save social
media information.
• Don’t measure your worth on # of followers.
• Use Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, bit.ly or other 3rd
party platform to track your tweets,
get reports, and manage multiple brands.
• Invest in Viral Heat, Vocus, Topsy or other platform that gathers RTs for you.
• Favor tweets from your followers or influencers so that they remain saved.
• Don’t let your tweets go to waste: Use Storify to create new stories and save social
media information.
• Don’t measure your worth on # of followers.

23. Hold
Twitter
chats to
expand
your
brand to
new
audiences

25. Reddit

26. #Questions